


Lark Song

by timahina



Series: Arc-V Rare Pair Week 2019 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Rare Pair Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 04:46:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19738597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timahina/pseuds/timahina
Summary: Princess Ruri longs to be freed of an arranged marriage and finds refuge in an unknown rogue knight.





	Lark Song

Once upon a time, there lived a fair princess. She was a pretty little thing with long dark hair said to be blowing in the wind by the grace of the gods. Her eyes were minted jewels of amethyst and when she smiled, storm clouds would depart for there was no sadness that could touch her. All those who saw her fell in love instantly, swearing upon first sight to protect her through thick and thin, through fire and storm, until death himself took their blades from their lifeless hands.

Every morning, she would travel to the next village and help the beggars. The sickly. The elderly. She got her hands dirty and carried around pails of water to those who couldn’t sit up or have strength enough to do so for themselves. In the afternoons, she would take walks down the traveler’s path and sing lark songs. The spirits of those on the road were instantly lifted. And each night, she would return home and rest her body in solitude. Across the lands, she was praised as a kind princess.

Any man would be lucky to have the princess’ hand in marriage.

And so!

One day, the king issued a challenge far and wide for anyone interested in the hand of the princess. To the royalty, nobility, gentry, even the peasantry – anyone who loved the fair princess. They were given an object to find; the feather of a golden dove. A pure animal and one of such worth would only appear to one worthy enough for the fair princess.

The first suitor came by three days later. He was a duke, handsome and athletic and came riding down on a magnificent black horse and presented the feather – demanding they marry before sunset. But the princess was not a fool for she took the feather and wiped it against her dress. The gold came off so easy! And the duke was sent away.

The second suitor came the next day. He was a scholar who brought a feather, but the feather was a dull yellow. He tried to say the feather was indeed gold and all those with sharp minds could see it – and none were sharper than his. So, the princess took the pale feather and weighed it against her necklace of gold, claiming they should be the same weight. But alas, the scale skewed toward the necklace and he too was sent away.

There was a third suitor. And a fourth. And a fifth. And so, on and so forth for many days and many nights. The king was losing hope of marriage for the fair princess, if any were worthy of her.

Then one day, a prince appeared from a far away land. He was rumored to be a kind prince, quiet and serious. And he appeared, claiming love for the princess at first sight as many others had. He promised her love and peace, happiness beyond her wildest dreams. But she stayed silent, only asking if he had the feather. For only then was marriage permitted.

And so, behind his back he presented a feather. All around those gasped – it was a golden feather!

The princess gulped, picking up the feather and touched its soft bristles. No color flaked off to her fingers. She weighed it against her necklace, it matched. She threw it to the sky, and indeed it floated light slowly as light as a feather it was, and yet gold.

All rejoiced!

Finally!

A prince won out the hand of the fair princess! They would be married for the end of the month and none could be happier.

Well, except the princess.

\---

Each day was a little more tortuous than the next and she began hating seeing the sun rise in the morning. Another day to leave the palace and await the marriage to the prince she hardly knew. When she traveled down the village, they would speak of how lucky he was and how beautiful their children would be.

She no longer visited the village.

When she traveled down the road, singing the songs of larks, travelers would see her and remark she was the fair princess… whose hand was won at last. The desire to sing had died. And soon, she was held up in her room in the castle, dreading the presence of the sun. It merely meant another day had passed. And the closer the wedding came, the less inspiration and desire she had for anything.

Only to sit in her room and lament over her fortune.

But such was the luck of a princess – when trouble appeared, there was a champion to appear. For five nights before her wedding, there was a pebble at her window that jolted her from her thoughts. And she went to investigate. There was no one outside on her balcony and thought it an accident. But on the ground, there was a small instrument, a pitch pipe. It was modest with a little note attached.

_To the lark with the most stunning voice._

It was the first smile in weeks.

The next night, four nights before the wedding, another hit to her window. This time, it was a rock with paper crumbled around it. The princess unraveled it to find a poem that brought tears to her eyes. Speaking of her kindness and the inner glow that attracted all to her like fireflies.

Now, three nights before the wedding and she awaited another gift. And by the window, a mysterious man appeared. It was not her betrothed. No, he was dressed in a knight’s attire. He was tall with a kind smile and hair the color of the sunset.

“Ah! The lark has allowed me into her cage!” And he knelt before her, seizing her tiny hand in his own and placed a kiss upon it. Her heart swooned. “Have you enjoyed my gifts?”

The princess smiled for she was an open girl with her heart on her sleeve. “I am… humbled by your gifts. But I don’t understand – why are you sending them to me?”

The knight removed his hand from her. “Because…” His green eyes were light and soft. For a knight, he did not have a fearsome expression. “This is embarrassing, but I think… I think I’ve found myself smitten!” And he laughed.

His laugh was loud, hardly restrained as though there was a terrible joke made.

In the midst of his laughter, the princess felt her worry flee her. There wasn’t a single suitor who managed to make her smile, not one who thought of her and her happiness – merely how to achieve her hand.

And he came back the next night, an official introduction as they met in the gardens. The knight’s name was Dennis, how very ordinary. It was the first time she left her room in nearly a month and all due to an unknown knight. There were servants who were up and about, whispering gossip about their fair princess holding his hand under the moonlight.

_“That is not her betrothed!”_

_“What will he think?”_

_“Ah, but she smiles once more!”_

_“See, the storm has passed.”_

_“Perhaps he is her knight in shining armor.”_

_“Then allow her a harmless tryst before marriage.”_

_“The Princess and the Knight – how fitting.”_

But each night, he made her smile and laugh.

She wished to stay so forever.

\---

_“Dennis, I don’t… that’s crazy. Running away?”_

_“Yes, let’s run off and leave this accursed place. You won’t have to marry that boring prince and we can be… happy and all that.”_

_“What about money?”_

_“I’m a rogue, Princess. I can work anywhere. Man of a thousand skills.”_

_“… you can say my name. I’ll be happy if you do… at least once.”_

_“Run away with me, Ruri. I’ll say your name as many times as you wish.”_

That night, over and over, the knight whispered her name reverently against her heated flesh. Her nails dug into his back and blood was spilled. Inexperienced and slow movements against her sheets under the cover of moonlight.

His kiss was soft, trustworthy – more valuable than any golden feather brought to her feet. Even if it brought turmoil amongst her home and the lands surrounding here, she wanted her happiness in his arms. Ruri vowed to run away with the rogue knight when morning came, to sing her songs to her love, and free her from the cage she found herself in.

As the sun rose to the sky, peaking across the horizon, Dennis took hold and Ruri’s hand and bungled a horse, to take them away. It would be hours before they were discovered. And for the ride off, Ruri rested her head against him, whispering words of devotion for their new life. She was somewhat sleepy and incoherent. “You’ll love me… forever, right… and stay with me… forever?”

Her eyes were hazy, but his smile was strange, hiding a secret she could not read. Perhaps it was merely the early morning hours but his grip on her was strange, not the gentle touch it was of the night before. “As I breathe, yes.”

She would ask later and maybe then, sing a lark’s song.


End file.
